Excursie #6 - Den Haag (in het Nederlands!)

Okay here goes my first blog post in Dutch ... This HAS BEEN a goal of mine since the beginning of the semester - to be bootable to communicate in Dutch, even just a little bit.

Okay, my first blog that I write in Dutch. Thursday I was in The Hague with other students from SPICE. It was a fun day because we saw  the second chamber (parliament), lots of art, the sea, and Madurodam (small Netherlands). My favorite was Madurodam. But the second room was also nice because we saw Geert Wilders (He is the Donald Trump of the Netherlands!).

The Hague is near Rotterdam, but is not close to Zwolle - a two-hour train. But two hours is nothing after my trips to Scandinavia.

The Hague is "political heart" of the Netherlands. We walked through the second Kamar. We saw a debate with the Minister of Justice (and Geert Wilders was there).

This is Geert Wilders.

This is the second kamar (Madurodam)

The sea.

People do their feet in the sea. It was cold!!!! I did not. But it was nice to see the sea.

small Zwolle

Madurodam was my favorite! All of Netherlands in one place! Groningen, Zwolle, Utrecht, Schiphol, Amsterdam, Rotterdam. I'm bigger than the buildings there. Nice!


















Many people look at work like for the girl with the pearl. The girl with the pearl is a small work of art so it was hard to see over people. I love the work with the cows! It was great. Artists have a lot of patience and time to create a masterpiece. Wow! Beautiful!

An important work of art

Another important work of art. The girl with the pearl. 

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Lord thank you for-allowing me to learn so many new things this semester! Continue to expand my understanding of the world!

#katiespiceurope
#excursions
#dutch

Excursion #4 - Utrecht

The fourth excursion for SPICE took us to the city of Utrecht, an hour train ride from Zwolle. One would think that I would get tired of looking at the history around me, and that I would get tired of hearing stories about places that I have never heard about, or that I would get bored with the same scenery. Well, the day that that happens will be the day that I stop learning. I hope never to stop learning. I hope that I will always find at least one thing to brighten my day on the excursions and on my trips.

A guy walks into a bar. He looks around a little confused... walk out double checks that the sign says bar and walks back in. He walks up to the bartender and asks, "do you serve drinks here?" The bartender says, "We serve most anything from Beer on down!" The man says, "Oh good, I almost thought this was a church." The bartender replies, "Good thing you didn't walk in a few decades back!"

True story... Okay, well not really. However, the first stop on our Utrecht excursion was to a bar that used to be an old Catholic hiding church.

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A lady, so in tune with the will of the Father that she places her self in a position of humility towards her God for continuous prayer.

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The Dom Kerk was divided in half. Literally, divided in half due to a large storm that caused part of the building to collapse. The bell tower remains separate from the church. When you enter the gardens of the church you might be a little confused and want to start waving a wand around. I felt transported to the world of Hogwarts for a few minutes.

Three hundred and sixty five steps. Thats right. 365. Up and Up and Up. The Dom tower is the bell tower to the Dom Kerk. This tower is the tallest one in the Netherlands. The view from the top... Well, I'll just say that I'm glad there was a fence!

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A tradition for our excursions is to sit, warm up, and drink something (koffie, thee, etc). This café, was built on top of and in the old Roman sector of the city. The basement still holds two Roman pillars. Talk about history!

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The Rietveld Schröder House: Imagine a house that could change. Walls can move, windows can become walls, beds are couches, the ceiling opens up to let in light. And then change it all back. Rietveld was a man ahead of his time. A modern building in the midst of traditional Dutch construction, yet it holds true to the Dutch belief that space is everything.

The City of Utrecht from the Dom Tower

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Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on us sinners. 

#katiespiceurope
#Utrecht

Exursion #3 - Groningen

Another day ... another Dutch city.
A tour of Groningen in verse.

Take a picture here.
Walk a little more.
Take another picture there.

Almost trip on brick walkways.
Almost get run over by bikers.
Almost get mistaken for being Dutch.

History.
History.
History.

At the strike of noon
Hear church bells at every corner
Wonder how old that church must be?

Ding
dong
Ding

History.
History.
History.

Climb up
Circle around

Who knew I was an artist?

Almost fall down

Phew, nearly missed that 1000 ft drop
Never thought I'd say that in a flat country
Or see an underwater museum

History.
History.
History.

Brrr.. it's cold
Drinken koffie en thee
Lekker!

Wow!
Leuk!
Wat is dat?

History.
History.
History.

Art in the form of clothes
Art in the form of paintings
Art in the form of furniture

Modernism
Postmodernism
Today!

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While in Groningen, we saw and learned many things. Groningen like many Dutch towns/cities was birthed out of history. Mainly a farming community, Groningen developed into a land that was home to the Jewish culture. The pain of WWII can still be seen as memorial stones mark homes of Jewish families. The architecture of the Netherlands is very similar from city to city, using all the space they had access to (and then creating more by reclaiming the sea). We were able to tour inside a 13th century church on this excursion, and I mean inside the church. We climbed up one of the hallowed out pillars to experience the architecture first hand. Situated as an Island, the Groningen city center can only be reached by bridges crossing over the circular canal. The Groninger museum, is built in the canal itself. It is a modern museum that museum goers can experience art not only through the pictures on the wall but also in the architecture of the building.  Whats more is that museum goers can even create a little art themselves in a hands hand portion of the museum. As the country I come from continues to grow into a modern nation, I have come to appreciate the pieces of history that the Netherlands continues to preserve and incorporate in both old and new ways.

Father God, you are the author of salvation. The author of history itself.

#katiespiceurope
#history

Excursion #1 - Zwolle

//Spicy Travels//

What do Spicy Travels look like? Hmm... eating flaming hot Cheetos maybe? Visiting the equator? Tasting new food? Perhaps all of these are true, but this semester my spicy travels will be on the tame side as I explore the Netherlands with SPICE (Study Program In Contemporary Europe).

Here is a little peek into the SPICE program. We will be taking excursions with two courses: art and architecture and Dutch culture and society.  This last Tuesday marked our first excursion to the fantastic city of ... Zwolle, Netherlands in the province of Overijssel. As many know, this city is my home until May. It doesn't feel as big as cities back home in the States, but once you start exploring there is a lot to discover. This effect is most likely because of the way the Dutch make use of their space. 

Space is everything. 

It's small, 
               its tight, 
                            its tall, 
                                       its packed.

On our excursion we walked from Viaa (the Reformed University), to the city center.

Along the way stopping to admire the house boats. Yes, the Dutch even make use of the space in the canals. The canal around Zwolle (shaped as a star) was used at one time as protection and now it is used as a housing platform and backyard. (Backyards here are also very small). 

Once in the city center, our two main stops were the museum and the bookshop.



Museum de Fundatie.

Type: Art

Is it worth seeing: Yes

Most memorable exhibit: Dutch Identity 

Interesting info: The top of the building is called the "eye."

 Waanders in de Broeren

What is it? This used to be a church, a monetary, and was recently renovated into a bookshop with a restaurant. The ceiling (left), and organ (right) are original.
The ceiling was painted with pictures of Saints and Bible stories to educate the illiterate about Christianity.



It is so strange for me to be in a city with so much history, so much pain, so much joy, so much culture. The bridge below for example. It is a new bridge built over the place where a very old bridge stood. That old bridge held a painful history. The Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany. Germans befriended the Dutch people, played with their children, were friends with shop keepers and then slowly Nazism took over. This bridge was the site of executions. But, triumph came in the form of a Canadian, as he rode into Zwolle and ... basically scared off the occupying Germans. In the middle of an execution none the less! Family were reunited and hope filled the holes left by pain. History fills this city. History that I only read about in books and see pictures online. Now I see where history took place. 

Lord God, You are the creator of all. The author of history itself. You had a plan and saw it through. Guide me in your plan. allow my life to be a sweat fragrance and offering to who the author of salvation. Amen

#katiespiceurope

#adventuretime

#excursions